Click the link to read the article on the Colorado Public Radio website (Paolo Zialcita). Here’s an excerpt:
One year ago today, nearly 98 percent of Colorado was experiencing drought conditions. Now, for the first time since August 2019, there’s no drought conditions anywhere in the state. Statewide drought levels have been steadily dropping over the past several months, as heavy rains picked up across the state. The July 4 update from the U.S. Drought Monitor showed that it had indeed disappeared completely…Colorado’s snowpack and rainfall levels have been higher this year than previous ones, due to constant and intense storms this spring and summer, which has helped pull the state out of current drought conditions…
“To have a good picture on the drought, that’s honestly gonna require a bunch of winters like this last winter we had with huge snows in the mountains,” [Russ] Schumacher said. “It could happen, but it probably isn’t real likely to have year after year of really snowy conditions.”
“If we zoom out to the Colorado River Basin, there’s still very significant issues there,” Schumacher said. “The reservoirs we have in Colorado, for example, have all filled up after our big snow this year, but those big reservoirs downstream, Lake Powell, Lake Mead are still way below average, let alone being full.”
